Crazy Horse (หน้าผาม้าพยศ): Limestone Sport Climbing East of Chiang Mai, the Most Complete Crag but No Official Reopening Notice

TL;DRCrazy Horse is a limestone sport crag in the Mae On valley east of Chiang Mai, with 289 routes in 22 sectors on theCrag. It is closely bolted, mostly 5s and 6s, and its caves hold 4- and 5-pitch lines, which makes it northern Thailand's best crag for climbing from beginner grades up to 6c. It closed in 2018 over a criminal case between local government offices, and since then it has reopened and had prohibition signs put up again. As of October 2026 there is still no official reopening notice, so when you book the CMRCA shuttle the evening before, ask them face to face whether you can climb.

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Series: Thailand Climbing Crags (8 / 12)

Nam Pha Pa Yai: The Main Wall Is Closed, but Three Other Walls and the Camp Still Work | Thailand Climbing Crags Chiang Dao: Pha Daeng Main Wall and Climbing Inside a National Park | Thailand Climbing Crags

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From the car park the first thing you see is a block of limestone above the main area shaped like a horse's head, and that is where Crazy Horse gets its name. With dense bolting, maintained trails and most sectors a few minutes' walk away, it is easy to assume this is a mature crag you can visit any time. The thing to check first is whether it is actually open.

This guide helps you decide whether Crazy Horse suits your level, how to plan outside the November–February window, how to get there without a car, and who to ask about access before you go.

What kind of crag

The Thai name is หน้าผาม้าพยศ ("the cliff of the unruly horse"), the name CMRCA uses on its Thai pages. In English it is usually Crazy Horse Buttress, and theCrag also lists the alias Mae On (the district name). The crag sits near the Tham Muang On (ถ้ำเมืองออน) cave temple, on the other side of the same hill. Set your navigation to the Crazy Horse car park marked on Google Maps (theCrag).

The rock is limestone. theCrag's summary calls it "the premier sport climbing area in northern Thailand", with everything from technical slabs and vertical faces to steep tufas. It is almost entirely bolted sport climbing, but the long cave lines involve abseils and loose rock, so they call for different kit from the single-pitch routes (see Rules before you go).

There are two counts. theCrag's summary gives 289 routes in 22 sectors (read 21 October 2026), while the description on the same page says "about 150 routes"; that description has no date and looks like it was written early and never updated. climbgrades' 2026 Chiang Mai guide says "over 200". These counts come from different points in time and can't be converted into each other.

The route tables here cover only 16 of those sectors, 233 routes. The other 6 sectors (The Evening Terraces, The Furnace, Vision Wall, Naam Prik Wall, The Ant Hill and Brah Wall, 56 routes in all) returned 403 from theCrag when read on 21 October 2026, and this guide does not cite them. The Ant Hill carries a warning flag on theCrag, so open it yourself before you go.

Sector	Routes	Character
Heart Wall	36	The most routes and the densest 6s; nearly every route name is a Thai "Jai" (heart) phrase; 15 minutes' walk from the car park
Crazy Horse Area	33	The main area (climbgrades calls it the Main Area) below the horse's head; several lines start from other routes' anchors, and the crag's only 8a+ is here
Reunion Buttress	29	Short lines in the cave and on ledges, plus the 3-pitch Reunion
Little Monkey Cove	25	Lots of short 4s and 5s
Anxiety State Crisis Cave	24	A big cave whose 4- and 5-pitch lines climb from the floor out through the top
The Aircon Wall	19	A steep cave mouth with most of the 7b to 8a lines; the first route at the crag, Show Off the Police (1998), is here too
Tamarind Village	15	Mostly short lines, plus the 2-pitch Makham Wan
The Gatekeeper Buttress	12	The densest cluster of three-star 6b to 7a lines
The Archway	7	Through the arch towards the top of the horse's head
The Horse Shoe, The Rooftop, Sentinel Buttress	7, 6, 6	Sentinel has a 4-pitch, 74 m 5a
The Hanging Gardens, The Junkyard, Buddha Buttress, Windy Cave	4, 4, 3, 3	Windy Cave has the 3-pitch Trojan Horse
6 sectors not read for this guide	56	See the paragraph above

The draw is the bolting. climbgrades puts bolts on the easier routes about 1 to 1.5 m apart and says runouts are rare. The same guide is just as direct that most routes fall between 5 and 7a+, with few above 7b. Leading 6a indoors and leading a 4-pitch cave route then abseiling back out are two different things. On a first visit, do a few short routes at Little Monkey Cove or Tamarind Village to get used to the rock before deciding whether to go into the caves.

Watch videos of the crag as a whole (vlogs, a first time outdoors, bolting)

a day at the crag · a vlog uploaded October 2025 · CJ Patton

When to go

Chiang Mai's high season runs November to February, dry and cool. chiangmai.net's climate data puts daytime highs at about 28–33°C and nights at about 15–16°C over that period.

The thing most likely to change your plans here is not rain but burning-season air. Northern Thailand's burning season runs roughly January to April and is worst in March; IQAir reported Chiang Mai's AQI above 150 on 4 March 2026, a level at which everyone should cut back on outdoor activity.

Insects have seasons too. climbgrades breaks Chiang Mai's seasons down further: smoke season February to April, bee season October to January, wasp season April to October. That comes from a single guide, but it matches the wasp and bee warnings in theCrag's route notes (see Rules before you go).

When	Conditions	Advice
November–February	Dry, cool	The best window; watch air quality from late January
March–April	Peak burning season, hot	Check that day's AQI before leaving; sensitive groups should avoid it
May	Hot	Climb mornings and evenings only
June–October	Wet season	Climbable between showers; limestone seeps and gets slick after rain

Aspect and sun: neither theCrag nor CMRCA gives aspects sector by sector. The best available is The Wandering Climber's 2019 write-up (secondary):

Sector	Sun
Crazy Horse Area (main wall)	South-facing, in the sun from about 11:00
The Aircon Wall	Shade at midday and a breeze from the cave; Vertical Life also names it as the hot-season (March–May) option
The Hanging Gardens, The Junkyard	Afternoon shade
Heart Wall	Shade all day, and some routes stay dry in the rain

The cave sectors (Anxiety State Crisis Cave, Windy Cave) have natural roofs, and Vertical Life adds that The Furnace stays consistently shady. On a hot day: the main wall in the morning, Aircon Wall or the caves at midday, then Heart Wall or the Junkyard in the afternoon.

Crowds: weekend mornings in high season are busy. climbgrades suggests that climbers without partners turn up around 9:30 on a weekend and ask to join groups in the car park, the main area or Tamarind Village. On weekdays the crag may be empty, so if you go on your own, go as a complete team. Vertical Life warns that school groups often swarm Tamarind Village from November to February.

Getting there

Public transport

There is no direct bus. The practical option is CMRCA's red-truck (songthaew) shuttle. Per the CMRCA transport page, checked October 2026:

It leaves Progression Vertical Climbing Gym in Chiang Mai at 08:30 and leaves the crag at 16:30.
It runs only with at least 4 passengers that day; book at the shop or online by 19:30 the evening before.
Drinking water is provided at the crag and lunch can be added; see the transport page for the fare.

In principle you can also ride a songthaew or minivan heading through Mae On and get off at the Crazy Horse turn, but climbgrades says you have to flag one down on the roadside for the return and it is not reliable. Grab usually won't go this far.

If you take a taxi, show the driver หน้าผาม้าพยศ แม่ออน (the Crazy Horse cliff in Mae On). theCrag warns that the last stretch is a dirt road and drivers may refuse it and drop you on the main road, leaving a 10 to 15 minute uphill walk to the main car park. Count that separately from the walk from the car park to the walls.

Driving

theCrag puts the drive from Chiang Mai at about 45 minutes. Head east through San Kamphaeng on Highway 1006, then turn onto 1317 towards Tham Muang On (per a 2015 traave travel feature, secondary), and set your navigation to the Crazy Horse car park on Google Maps. Take the last dirt section slowly after rain.

Many people rent a motorbike, but the CMRCA transport page warns that police readily fine foreigners riding without a motorbike licence; also check whether your insurance still pays out if you ride unlicensed or without a helmet.

Parking

The main car park is at the end of the dirt road, with toilets and a hut next to it (climbgrades). The official pages I checked give no capacity or fee. From the car park, most sectors are a few minutes' walk and Heart Wall is 15 minutes (theCrag). climbgrades notes that Heart Wall, Gatekeeper Buttress and The Rooftop involve steep walking, so wear hiking shoes.

Rules before you go

First: ask CMRCA directly whether you can climb before you go. Access is the biggest unknown here. The timeline:

When	Event	Source
2018	Access suspended because of a criminal investigation between the Mae On district office and the Ban Sahakorn 2 sub-district office; the governor asked that it stay closed, and CMRCA advised climbers to avoid other northern Thai crags as well	CMRCA closure notice (primary)
2022-09	Reopened	Reopening petition text
2024-06	Prohibition signs went up again; Thaiger reported the community was still waiting for local administrative approval to reopen	Reopening petition text; Thaiger (secondary)
2024-08	CMRCA shared the Thailand Climbing Development Association's petition asking for reopening	CMRCA, August 2024 (primary)
2025–2026	People climbing as usual, but no official reopening notice	See below

The 2018 CMRCA notice is blunt: climbing there during the investigation counted as trespassing on government land, and if someone had an accident that needed local ambulances or hospitals, the village head would be held responsible. The notice is still on CMRCA's site with no update date.

Signs in 2025–2026 that people are climbing:

CMRCA's transport page still lists the shuttle, and its booking system still lists a half-day guided climb at Crazy Horse (checked October 2026).
A Vertical Life feature in its Spring 2025 issue says there is a big "Do not climb" sign at the entrance, yet people climb every day, no one from law enforcement has asked anyone to leave, and tour groups run regular trips.
climbgrades (updated August 2026) and Ada House (July 2026) both say climbing is currently permitted, but neither cites any notice.
UKC's crag page says it has reopened "according to CMRCA".
People kept uploading climbing videos from here to YouTube through 2024 and 2025, most recently Sunseeker, Trojan Horse and Reunion in December 2025 (see the Videos column in the route tables).

Watch CMRCA's 2024 video on the closure's impact

closure and the local community · posted by CMRCA in August 2024 with the reopening petition · Progression

3:56closure and the local communityposted by CMRCA in August 2024 with the reopening petition · Progression

So the accurate statement is: "plenty of people climb there, but there is no official reopening notice." It is neither "reopened" nor "still closed". The quickest way to confirm is to ask in person when you book the shuttle at Progression Vertical the evening before: the organisation that posted the closure notice, shared the reopening petition and runs the shuttle is the same one.

Management is changing hands. The 2018 notice says that under Thai land law a private company cannot lease this land, so CMRCA decided to hand its 15 years of buildings and facilities at the crag to the Mae On community, which had applied to the district, provincial and national land agencies to manage the area (primary). Ada House's 2026 article also says stewardship is shifting to the community (secondary). If there is a community fee or sign-in on site, go by what's on site.

Seasonal avoidance: nests. theCrag's route warnings (read 21 October 2026): Mar Jark Jai and Deung Duut Jai on Heart Wall ask climbers to "avoid this route for 2 months" because of a nearby bird's nest, and Tang Jai has an active owl nest with two eggs behind the big flake; Sweet Harmony on Reunion Buttress has a wasp nest; and the only 8a+ has a one-line note, "Watch for the bees." None of these warnings is dated, so check on site. Vertical Life is blunter: in cooler weather giant Asian honey bees build sail-shaped nests at the top of climbs, and when the swarm shimmers in unison like a Mexican wave you should lower off immediately; people have been stung hundreds of times. In the rainy season, wasps nest in sheltered cracks.

Fixed gear and kit. Vertical Life reports that the crag is inspected every year and rebolted with stainless steel. theCrag doesn't record bolt material route by route, but The Beehouse (6c+) in Crazy Horse Area is flagged "Many loose bolts". climbgrades recommends a 70 m rope (60 m covers about 90% of routes, and a handful of extensions need 80 m), 14 to 18 quickdraws, and a helmet. In Deep Space's note says "lots of loose rock so check everything before pulling on it and wear a helmet". The cave multipitches abseil back to the cave floor, so check your rope length and descent first. On the cave-roof traverses (Anxiety State Crisis, Sunseeker, Space Manoeuvres), a fall can leave you hanging in space, unable to get back on the rock: UKC's 2011 guide recommends carrying prusiks, and Vertical Life says they are for experienced pairs who know how to ascend a rope.

Watch videos of climbing inside the caves

cave multipitch (Thai) · September 2023; guided, with crawling through caves and holes · MakeYourOwnWayClimbing

The note on Peaun Jai Rai at Heart Wall also warns that **monkeys sometimes turn up at the anchors trying to steal your things**.

In an emergency, call 1669 (the Ministry of Public Health's free medical emergency line, which routes you to the nearest hospital); for English-language help, call the tourist police on 1155 (GOV.UK healthcare guidance; Thai Government Public Relations Department, November 2025). Before you go, save the Thai crag name หน้าผาม้าพยศ, the sector names and an offline map. Check with your insurer that sport climbing, multipitch, search and rescue, medical treatment and repatriation are covered; CMRCA's guided trips include climbing insurance, but going on your own does not.

Routes by level

YDS and V-grade conversions follow the Mountain Project international grade comparison chart and are approximate; "approx." marks grades the sources give without a/b/c (such as 4 or 5+). The original grade is the one that counts.

All of these tables come from theCrag's route-by-route pages for 16 sectors (read 21 October 2026). Each band picks routes with high star ratings or specific descriptions; it is not a complete list. The ★ in the notes are theCrag stars, and routes without stars have no rating on theCrag. For multipitch routes, the grade column gives the hardest pitch and the length column gives the total length and pitch count. theCrag also lists 2 boulder problems (V4, V5), but there is too little data and they are not included.

Routes with videos get an extra Videos column on the right of the table; click the thumbnail to open that route's videos. These clips were checked only by title, channel, upload date and the author's description, not watched through, so the notes say only what that metadata supports. A few differ from the table: the Dee Jai Tee Dai Geud clip is titled Happy to Be Alive, 5.11a; two clips of The Tree Surgeon give 6c against 6c+ on theCrag; one clip each of Sport Satay and Sandbag is on top rope; two of the Jai Glah Reu Plao clips cover only the first half; and the Mun Jai clip dates from 2011, just after bolting, with the description spelling it Muan Jai. A video's grade and route name describe that clip only; choose routes from the table's sources.

Beginner: up to 6a (YDS 5.10a and below)

The 4s and 5s are concentrated at Little Monkey Cove, Tamarind Village and The Hanging Gardens, and Heart Wall has a few 5s too. "Beginner" is a grade band, not a recommendation for a first day outdoors: In Deep Space and Sentinel are only 5s, but both are 4-pitch lines. For a first day, compare two routes in Tamarind Village: 4500 (5a, 20 m single pitch, three stars) to get used to the rock and to leading, and Makham Wan (5c+, two pitches, 45 m) to practise multipitch changeovers and abseiling for the first time; Vertical Life also calls Makham Wan a good introduction to multipitch.

Route	Grade	YDS	Length / pitches	Sector	Notes	Videos
Botanical	5a	5.7	17 m	Little Monkey Cove	★★	—
Miya Arom Siya / My Girlfriend Is In A Bad Mood	5b	5.8	14 m	Little Monkey Cove	★★; Josh Morris	—
4500	5a	5.7	20 m	Tamarind Village	★★★; up blocks and a small gully onto the face, varied moves	—
Makhaam Bpriaao	5a	5.7	13 m	Tamarind Village	★★; right of the chimney mouth, stiff start, well bolted	—
Makham Wan / Tamarind Leaves	5c+	approx. 5.9+	45 m / 2 pitches	Tamarind Village	★★; 5a, 5c+; one 70 m rope abseils back to the ground (knot the ends)	—
Tarzan	5b	5.8	14 m	The Hanging Gardens	★★	—
First Flight	5a	5.7	17 m	Reunion Buttress	★★★	—
Sweet Harmony	5c	5.9	17 m	Reunion Buttress	★★★; theCrag flags a wasp nest	—
Rising Above Bedlam	5c	5.9	20 m	The Rooftop	★★★; Francis Haden, February 2017	—
Peaun Jai Rai / My Friend is Mean	5a	5.7	18 m	Heart Wall	★; monkeys sometimes at the anchors trying to steal things	—
Jai Ngai / Gullible	6a	5.10a	12 m	Heart Wall	★★; technical crux, delightful finish	—
A Horse with No Name	5	approx. 5.7–5.8	37 m / 2 pitches	Crazy Horse Area	★★; starts from the top of Ding Dong; the 5a pitch is a traverse	—
In Deep Space	5c	5.9	80 m / 4 pitches	Anxiety State Crisis Cave	★★; from the cave floor to the top, with views of the Mae On countryside; lots of loose rock, wear a helmet
Sentinel	5a	5.7	74 m / 4 pitches	Sentinel Buttress	No description or stars on theCrag	—

Intermediate: 6a+ to 6c+ (YDS 5.10b–5.11c)

This is Crazy Horse's deepest band, with about half of the 233 routes. Heart Wall's Thai "Jai" series and Gatekeeper Buttress's key-themed routes are almost all two- and three-star 6a+ to 6c+ lines; to fill a day at one grade, stay on one of those walls. In this band, compare Ruam Jai (6a+, 36 m, with a mid-height anchor at 20 m) and The Gatekeeper (6b, 25 m): both are three stars, but they differ in length and rope needs, and with a 60 m rope you can only take Ruam Jai to the mid-height anchor. The cave multipitches also fall in this band. They aren't hard but they take time, so plan them separately from the short routes.

Route	Grade	YDS	Length / pitches	Sector	Notes	Videos
Ruam Jai / Together	6a+	5.10b	36 m	Heart Wall	★★★; theCrag: "the best at the grade in the area"; anchor at 20 m, climbable with a 60 m rope	—
Mar Jark Jai / Heartfelt	6a+	5.10b	25 m	Heart Wall	★★★; a pump fest from halfway; avoid during nesting season	—
Jai Rawn / Hot Headed	6b	5.10c	27 m	Heart Wall	★★; "absolutely stunning for the grade"	—
Dee Jai Tee Dai Geud / It's Great to be Alive	6b+	5.10d	19 m	Heart Wall	★★★
Mun Jai / Confident	6c	5.11a/b	19 m	Heart Wall	★★★
Jai Kwang / Unknown / Open-Minded	6c/c+	5.11a/b	26 m	Heart Wall	★★★; bouldery, powerful start, then a great thin slab	—
Jai Yen Yen / Patient / The Proposal / Calm	6c+	5.11c	21 m	Heart Wall	★★★
Jai Teung Jai / Heart to Heart	6c+	5.11c	35 m	Heart Wall	★★★	—
Dtang Jai / Conscious	6c	5.11a/b	25 m	Heart Wall	★★; "great climbing on beautiful rock, go for the onsight"
Hua Jai Wai / Heart Attack	6c+	5.11c	10 m	Heart Wall	★★; super bouldery and thrutchy from the ground to the anchors
Dtat Sin Jai / Decide	6c+	5.11c	14 m	Heart Wall	★★; powerful climbing on steep terrain
Angel's Gate	6a+	5.10b	21 m	The Gatekeeper Buttress	★★★	—
The Gatekeeper	6b	5.10c	25 m	The Gatekeeper Buttress	★★★
Picking the Lock	6b+	5.10d	26 m	The Gatekeeper Buttress	★★★	—
The Keymaster	6c	5.11a/b	25 m	The Gatekeeper Buttress	★★★	—
Skyscraper	6a+	5.10b	29 m	The Rooftop	★★★	—
Total Biscuits	6a+	5.10b	17 m	Reunion Buttress	★★★	—
Northern Exposure Ext	6b	5.10c	35 m	Reunion Buttress	★★★; 6b as one pitch	—
Reunion	6a+	5.10b	52 m / 3 pitches	Reunion Buttress	★★; Francis Haden and Khaetthaleeya Uppakham
Morning Glory	6a+	5.10b	31 m	Windy Cave	★★★	—
Trojan Horse	6a+	5.10b	55 m / 3 pitches	Windy Cave	★★; 5c, 6a+, 5a; rappel rings at the top of pitch 2 let you descend from there
The Darkness Beckons	6a+	5.10b	70 m / 5 pitches	Anxiety State Crisis Cave	★★; from the In Deep Space P1 anchors, traverse 3 bolts left then go up; abseil the line
Show Off the Police	6b	5.10c	20 m	The Aircon Wall	★★; Kraisak Boonthip, 1998; theCrag records it as the first route at Crazy Horse	—
Crazy Hot	6b	5.10c	19 m	The Archway	★★★; long draws on the 4th, 5th and 6th bolts	—
Gruntfest	6c	5.11a/b	19 m	The Archway	★★★	—
The Tree Surgeon	6c+	5.11c	18 m	The Archway	★★★
Sandbag	6c	5.11a/b	20 m	The Archway	★★
Happy Birthday	6b	5.10c	13 m	Tamarind Village	★★★	—
The Beehouse	6c+	5.11c	27 m	Crazy Horse Area	★★★; theCrag flags "Many loose bolts"	—
Blood, Love and Steel Pitch 1	6c	5.11a/b	26 m	Crazy Horse Area	★★★; Francis Haden; Headhunters and Baby Rock start from its top
Sunseeker Pitch 1	6c+	5.11c	22 m	Anxiety State Crisis Cave	★★; Francis Haden and Donna Kwok, 2011; pitch 2 is 6b+

Advanced: 7a to 7c+ (YDS 5.11d–5.13a)

The 7s are concentrated in three places: the steep cave mouth of The Aircon Wall (7a to 7c+), the link-up lines in Crazy Horse Area, and Heart Wall's three 7a+ routes. Many of these don't start from the ground but from another route's anchor, so work out which pitches get you to the start. For a first 7a, compare Sport Satay (13 m, Aircon Wall, short and steep) with Inferno (29 m, Gatekeeper Buttress, long and sustained): same grade, but one tests power and the other tests pump.

Route	Grade	YDS	Length / pitches	Sector	Notes	Videos
Jai Glah Reu Plao / Are You Courageous?	7a+	5.12a	22 m	Heart Wall	★★★; "stunning climbing all the way to the anchors"
Jai Loy / Spaced-Out	7a+	5.12a	23 m	Heart Wall	★★; through tufas, with a powerful pull over the lip	—
Jai Det / Fearless	7a+	5.12a	13 m	Heart Wall	★★; tough and short with a balancy, committing finish and a dodgy fall possibility	—
Inferno	7a	5.11d	29 m	The Gatekeeper Buttress	★★★; 9 bolts and 1 thread	—
All Quiet on the Eastern Front	7a	5.11d	24 m	The Gatekeeper Buttress	★★★; 8 bolts and 1 thread
Walk the Plank	7a+	5.12a	15 m	Reunion Buttress	★★★; accessed from halfway up Reunion pitch 3; belay anchor inside the cave	—
Shadow Cranking	7a	5.11d	10 m	Reunion Buttress	★★★	—
Earthquake	7a	5.11d	25 m	Windy Cave	★★; Paul Collis, 2007	—
Anxiety State Crisis	7a	5.11d	42 m / 2 pitches	Anxiety State Crisis Cave	★★; Francis Haden and Diana Jew, 2002; up the featured pillar in the middle of the cave	—
Stranger At The Gate	7a+	5.12a	95 m / 4 pitches	Anxiety State Crisis Cave	★; traverses left from In Deep Space P1; the longest route read for this guide	—
Heavy Drilling	7a	5.11d	16 m	Little Monkey Cove	★★; climbs into the large crack	—
Unnamed Japanese Route	7a+	5.12a	9 m	The Aircon Wall	★★★; on your left as you enter the cave, in front of Cool and Funky	—
Sport Satay	7a	5.11d	13 m	The Aircon Wall	★★
Freeblast	7b	5.12b	13 m	The Aircon Wall	★★
The Wild Pumpus	7b+	5.12c	12 m	The Aircon Wall	★★
The Foaming Pumpus	7c	5.12d	13 m	The Aircon Wall	Phairat Kaewkan, 2005; first 3 bolts of Wild Pumpus, then left	—
Wild & Free	7c+	5.13a	15 m	The Aircon Wall	★★; Kang, January 2024; first 4 bolts of Wild Pumpus, then traverses into Freeblast	—
The Horse Knows the Way	7b	5.12b	18 m	Crazy Horse Area	★★; first graded 7c; skip the jug at the bottom of the big hole right of the third bolt for the 7c	—
Free the Spirit	7b+	5.12c	20 m	Crazy Horse Area	★★★; starts at the top of Headhunters pitch 2	—
Baby Rock	7b+	5.12c	30 m	Crazy Horse Area	★★; starts at the top of Blood, Love and Steel pitch 1	—

Expert: 8a and up (YDS 5.13b and up)

The 16 sectors read for this guide have only two 8s. theCrag's crag page gives a grade range up to 8b, so that line is presumably in one of the 6 unread sectors and isn't listed here. If you are after 8s, Crazy Horse isn't the main target; see Tonsai or Chong Phli in this series.

Route	Grade	YDS	Length / pitches	Sector	Notes	Videos
Aircon Direct	8a	5.13b	14 m	The Aircon Wall	★★
A Wild Ride on a Crazy Horse	8a+	5.13c	18 m	Crazy Horse Area	No stars on theCrag; the only note is "Watch for the bees."; the author of a February 2024 video was told it was the third ascent

Classic routes: multipitch and single pitch

The grade tables above choose routes by difficulty. This section adds 13 lines that CMRCA and several climbing publications commonly treat as Crazy Horse classics. Not all of them are named by two or more sources, so they sit in their own section: the multipitches follow CMRCA's multi-pitch guiding page, and the single pitches follow CMRCA's 2015 classics video, UKC's 2011 guide and Vertical Life's 2025 feature. Grades and lengths come from theCrag throughout, and where a source writes them differently, the notes give both.

Classic does not mean easy. The multipitch group runs from In Deep Space in the 5s to Space Manoeuvres at 7b, and on the cave-roof traverses the hard part is whether you can rescue yourself after a fall, not the grade.

Multipitch classics

CMRCA's multi-pitch guiding page lists Trojan Horse, In Deep Space, A Horse With No Name and Into the Sun as beginner multipitches, and Anxiety State Crisis, Sunseeker and Headhunters as advanced. Pitch grades and lengths come from theCrag's pages for each pitch.

Route	Grade	YDS	Length / pitches	Notes	Videos
In Deep Space	5b, 5b, 5c, 5c	hardest 5.9	80 m / 4 pitches	64 ascents on theCrag; 2 abseils outside the cave or 3 inside (70 m rope); CMRCA lists it as beginner
A Horse with No Name	5	approx. 5.7–5.8	37 m / 2 pitches	Starts from the top of Ding Dong; CMRCA gives 5c	—
Into The Sun	6a, 6b	hardest 5.10c	34 m / 2 pitches	Francis Haden and Josh Morris; CMRCA gives 6a	—
Trojan Horse	5c, 6a+, 5a	hardest 5.10b	55 m / 3 pitches	CMRCA lists it as beginner; Vertical Life: it ends with an abseil into the Main Area, so check for bees before descending
Sunseeker	6c+, 6b+	hardest 5.11c	47 m / 2 pitches	Shares the first half of pitch 1 with Anxiety State Crisis, then a hanging traverse of a giant fin (UKC); UKC and CMRCA give 6c
Anxiety State Crisis	7a, 7a	hardest 5.11d	42 m / 2 pitches	The original cave-roof line, Francis Haden and Diana Jew, 2002; the Vertical Life author calls it the scariest route they have tried	—
Headhunters (via Blood, Love and Steel pitch 1)	6c, 7a+, 7a	hardest 5.12a	66 m / 3 pitches	Vertical Life: three pitches to stand on the horse's head; CMRCA gives 7a	—
Space Manoeuvres	6c, 7b, 7b	hardest 5.12b	70 m / 3 pitches	Straight up an arete from the gloom of the cave to the top of the crag (UKC); Francis Haden, 2002	—

Single-pitch classics

These aren't on CMRCA's multi-pitch page and come mainly from CMRCA's own classics video and the climbing press. They are separate from the group above because the sources differ, not because of a shared grade band.

Route	Grade	YDS	Length / pitches	Notes	Videos
Blood, Love and Steel Pitch 1	6c	5.11a/b	26 m	★★★ on theCrag; UKC 2011 calls it a super-classic; CMRCA's 2015 classics video
The Tree Surgeon	6c+	5.11c	18 m	★★★ on theCrag; CMRCA's 2015 classics video gives 6c; UKC's photo shows a knee-bar rest
The Wild Pumpus	7b+	5.12c	12 m	★★ on theCrag; CMRCA's 2015 classics video calls it Wild Pumpest
Happy Birthday	6b	5.10c	13 m	★★★ on theCrag; Vertical Life: the "tricky but iconic" route at Tamarind Village	—
A Route with a View	5c+	approx. 5.9+	22 m	★★ on theCrag; Southern Oscillations (2015) and Ramon Fadli (2016) both recommend finishing the day here at The Rooftop for the sunset	—

Route logs online

Beyond the guidebook and theCrag, climbers' blogs and the climbing press keep a batch of firsthand route logs. They add approach details, timing and on-the-ground feel; grades and pitch counts still follow the tables above. Most were written between 2015 and 2019, so go by the current situation for facilities and access.

Route	Log to read	What that log adds
In Deep Space	theCrag's route page	Pitch-by-pitch lengths and bolt counts; on pitch 2, after traversing three bolts right, the line splits twice: straight up is the 6a, and you take a sharp right, even traversing down, to reach the next anchor; two abseil options
Anxiety State Crisis, Trojan Horse	Vincent Chen's 2025 feature in Vertical Life	On Anxiety State Crisis you scramble and abseil to a hanging belay on a limestone column, then traverse the roof over a 50 m drop; a light belayer might strand the leader mid-route after a fall; Trojan Horse ends with an abseil into the Main Area
Anxiety State Crisis, Sunseeker, Space Manoeuvres	UKC's 2011 northern Thailand guide	Pitch grades and lines for the three cave-roof routes; a fall may leave you unable to regain the rock, so prusiks are recommended; the bolting standard at the time (titanium or marine-grade stainless glue-ins)
A Route with a View, Skyscraper	Southern Oscillations' 2015 trip report	The 3rd-edition guide recommends finishing at The Rooftop for the sunset; the guide often lists fewer bolts than are on the wall, so the authors ran short of quickdraws and had to run it out near the top; they record Skyscraper as 6a (6a+ on theCrag)
Heun Fah, A Route with a View	Ramon Fadli's 2016 trip report	The walk of about 1 km from Jira Homestay to the car park; how to bypass a crowded main wall through The Archway up to The Rooftop; the moves on both warm-up routes

Where to look things up

Access and shuttle: the CMRCA transport page has shuttle times, the minimum group size and how to book. The closure notice and the Crazy Horse Updates category are where the official position lives, but for current status ask CMRCA in person or by email (+66 86 911 1470, info@thailandclimbing.com).
Online databases: theCrag's Crazy Horse page for the 22 sectors and route-by-route grades, stars, lengths and route warnings (nests, loose bolts); UKC's crag page for climbers' comments.
General guide: climbgrades' Chiang Mai climbing guide (updated August 2026) covers seasons, gear, finding partners and transport, though its statement on access cites no source.
Emergency numbers: the Thai Government Public Relations Department's tourist assistance numbers.
Guidebook: Grades and route counts here come mainly from online databases; the guidebook is the authority. This guide did not check the guidebook's route tables directly.
- A Guide to Rock Climbing in Northern Thailand, CMRCA Press, 3rd edition, English, 220 pages, covering 18 areas and more than 150 routes in northern Thailand. CMRCA's Thai page says the first edition came out in 2001; the 3rd edition's year wasn't found, but Southern Oscillations was using it in 2015 and The Wandering Climber says it was printed in 2016 with about 200 routes. Southern Oscillations warns that the book often lists fewer bolts than are on the wall. It is sold at the CMRCA shop in Chiang Mai; routes opened after 2018 aren't in it.
- Digital: Vertical Life's 2025 feature says the most up-to-date guide is now digital, on the Crag Finder app; whether CMRCA's Climbing in Northern Thailand app (launched 2016) is still maintained is unconfirmed. I installed neither to check.

Update history

2026-10-24: Rewritten to the new crag-guide template, adding 29 route videos and 9 crag, cave and closure videos (metadata checked only), the Classic routes and Route logs online sections, per-sector sun, bee-nest warnings and self-rescue notes for the cave-roof traverses. Route tables rebuilt from theCrag's route-by-route data, fixing routes placed in the wrong band (7a+ under intermediate, 5c under advanced, 7b+ under expert) and the grades of Jai Rawn and Trojan Horse pitch 3, and adding Aircon Wall's 7b to 8a lines. Added the Thai name, emergency numbers 1669/1155, the bird-nest, wasp and loose-bolt warnings, the trespass and handover content of the 2018 closure notice, and the 2025–2026 signs of climbing. The shuttle section now says it leaves from Progression Vertical and must be booked the evening before, and no longer gives a fare; corrected the driving route (previously given as Highway 107).

Crazy Horse (หน้าผาม้าพยศ): Limestone Sport Climbing East of Chiang Mai, the Most Complete Crag but No Official Reopening Notice | Thailand Climbing Crags

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